Our Magical Trip to Edisto Island

26 Oct Our Magical Trip to Edisto Island

My favorite part of camping is the crisp stillness that can be smelt and felt both in the evening when the fire embers are dying out and in the morning right when you unzip your tent and the dew filled air hits your face. Edisto Campsite 66 had a certain kind of stillness that was felt beyond the surface of my skin. Before our Edisto escape I was barely breathing, for months it felt like I was slowly being buried alive, every day another pile of dirt was loaded onto my chest. After Edisto 66 with my lover I feel like that crisp stillness runs in my veins. I can breathe again.

Our two-year anniversary was our excuse to get away, but you shouldn’t wait for a “reason” to have a renewal trip. The “reason” should be simple, “because I need to refill my cup”. When I speak of refilling ones cup I am alluding to the dire need to replenish ones energy.

We hadn’t taken a vacation since our last camping trip to Cherokee in May 2014 to celebrate my birthday. We were “too busy” “too poor” or “too tired”. Finally our anniversary gave us the perfect excuse and boy did we need it! I had forgotten what a true holiday felt like. Most people view visiting home or thanksgiving with the family as their vacation, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Although a trip to see dear ole mum and dad is a happy time and surely a break from the real world it is not a vacation in the truest sense of the word. As much as we love our family, often after a trip to visit them we need a vacation from our vacation. Am I right? Even when you get along with your loved ones like peas and carrots, a trip home does not give your heart the chance to reset as it so deeply desires. For this to occur you have to go outside of your usual beat. You have to wander down a new road and set your sights on new heights. Brad and I finally had a chance to breath deeply and resonate with stillness. Who wants to hear a little bit more about it?

Thursday October 15th, 2015

Happy Anniversary to us!! We wake up like little kids on Christmas, excited to run down stairs and tear into presents. Due to our incredibly busy schedules we had not packed yet so we franticly threw sunscreen, towels, sheets, boots, and anything we could think of into our bags. After dropping the pup off at his resort, Pooch Palace, we were on the road to Edisto Island!

As we drove across the bridge to the little island of Edisto the excitement really set in and I could feel the promise of this trip. We checked into the Ranger Station with ,whom we deemed, “Stern Ranger Lady” and headed to our Beach Campground #66 to set up. The number 66 in Angel Numerology denotes a message to open your arms to receive intervention when you are feeling burdened, worried, or stressed, need I say more? We setup our cute little tent and then headed out for our first adventure.

First stop, Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve and Wildlife Management Area. Oysters popped in the pluff mud and hundreds of tiny crabs scuttled in troops across the marsh under the path we took to the beach.

The skeletons of live oak trees grew straight out of the ocean on Botany Bay, it was this feature that drew me to it in the first place, but of course as always the pictures I’d seen did not do them justice. Through the course of this post I will probably use the word “magical” 111 times. As a writer it pains me to be repetitive with adjectives but this is truly the best word in my book to depict the mysticism of this trip. Everything we saw was truly magic, it felt as if it had been whipped up with a wand, brewed up by the stars, or painted by an artist. Every time Brad and I discussed a site we had seen or the sensation of our vacation all I could think was “This is truly magical.” Isn’t all of life truly magical? To others this trip may have been mundane, but we were manifesting magic.

The untouched beach full of seashells and petrified wood trees were magical. We took a peaceful long walk stopping to marvel at nature’s little beauties and then made our way back to the car. After cruising through a historic drive-through nature walk we were back at the entrance and ready for the next adventure. Next stop on the adventure train….nap time.

Back to the campsite we went and we found two trees to hang our ENO hammock, a gift we had bought each other for our anniversary. Hanging from two perfect palm trees overlooking the ocean we had the most magical nap. The wind started to pick up and as the sun started to set it was time to start dinner.

Dinner prefaced the beginning of another kind of adventure and we call this chapter, “The Racoons” We had been warned that these little boogers would be a nuisance, but we had no true idea of the magnitude of that statement. Once the sun fully set and Brad put steak and chicken over the fire our woodland friends started coming out of the woodwork…literally. I almost screamed when the first one snuck up behind me to sing for his supper. Every two seconds another one was arms length from our feet, on our table, or in our trash hung high in the tree. It was an invasion. Raccoons resemble curiosity, playfulness and deception but I knew this was a signal to both Brad and I to get curious and enjoy our trip like the raccoon poking his bandit face in every nook and cranny.

*the only picture I got of the sneaky bastards

We ate the feast Brad prepared of chicken, steak, asparagus, and quinoa and swapped love notes. Our red solo cups clinked as we toasted our two years of love and proceeded to get a little wine toasty. We talked by the campfire for hours, reconnecting, and breathing in all the magic of the night air. The entire campsite had gone to bed and it felt like we were the only two people left on the planet. We cleaned up our campsite and headed to the dump to dispose of our trash only to find the most, (you guessed it) magical display of stars. In the middle of the pitch-black road away from the sparks of dying campfires the stars were out to play. I had not seen the cosmos like this in ages. We stood in the middle of the street arm in arm starring up, gawking with our mouths wide open. And then the most magical thing happened! I saw my first shooting star ever! There are no words for how this made me feel, I was speechless. This wrapped up our first evening and we retreated to our tent.

Friday October 16th, 2015

We woke up exhausted, our little furry friends tormented us through the night, creating less than ideal sleeping conditions, but the sun was shining bright at 7am and I was ready to go!

I ate a handful of Honey Nut Cheerios and we tracked straight off to the Serpentarium! A reptilian park jammed packed with snakes, alligators, crocodiles and turtles. The park surprised us with it’s vast amount of animals. It felt like we had left Edisto, South Carolina and walked straight into the bayou. When asking Brad for a quote on his experience at the Serpentarium he replied in jest, “It was a slithern’ good time”, can you see why I love him?

The SeaCow Eatery was our next destination thanks to a local’s recommendation. One the drive there we toured the Island and were both daydreaming of one day owning a little beach house by the sea. Dreaming or manifesting? What’s the difference? We scarfed down lunch in the cute little restaurant, poked around in a few quaint gift and surf shops then left for our next “to do”, King Farms Market. The open aired market had a country charm with chickens in a coop and wildflowers growing by the side of the building. The butterflies danced from flower to flower and the busy bees did their work. Brad bought himself a homemade blueberry cobbler and I plucked a Chakra balancing wind chime with different colored gemstones from a tree.

It was naptime again once we returned to the site and we scurried up the hill to our designated palmetto trees wincing as we stepped into burrs that caught our ankles. Today the hoisted hammock served too cold and we retreated to our tent.

This next tale I’m about to relay is truly magical. The night prior we had been looking for S’more sticks to no avail and used our steak tongs instead. It worked but it wasn’t the traditional roasting marshmallow experience we hoped for. Fast forward back to our nap, as I unzipped the tent and pulled myself from the fog of my nap I saw two long sticks next to my flip flops. I rubbed my eyes and refocused on two twigs to see that they had been delicately widdled at each tip. There on top of my flip flops I had been presented with a little magical gift. Whether it was woodland fairies or a kind neighbor who overheard our difficulties the night before I will never know. Regardless, those S’more sticks filled me with a magical feeling and that does not need to be questioned. (And no it was not Brad, I am sure!)

Why do we need to question magic? Why are we so stuck on the “why”? Instead lets search for the magic, never asking where it came from, only trusting that it is real. Right now I want you to tune into the magic within yourself. Can you feel it flow through your veins? Radiating from your heart? Once you learn how to identify the mystic power within you, you can match it to the Universe and magical things will start to happen daily. Surround yourself with tools, people and places that inspire the magic and don’t use skepticism as their motivating force.

After our nap we just let the rest of our trip wind down and unfold, accepting that it was over but still wallowing in the juicy goodness of it all. We took a stroll on the beach and for the next hour searched for buried treasure.

I giddily found seashells like a mermaid child while Brad hunted shark’s teeth. A coquina shell caught my eye, still attached and pure white resembling a pair of angel wings. I rambled on and on about signs and my guides talking to me. We returned to the campsite and it was my turn to cook tonight. In comparison to Brads feast the night prior my hamburger and beans look like slop, but tasted sweet from golden sugar and reminded me of my mom. I reminisced how hamburger and beans was my favorite meal growing up, on my birthdays when my mom offered to cook anything in the world.. this is what I chose. We played cards by the lantern light and etched a tick tac toe board in the mud. We continued to look at the stars and theorize about the Universe and creatures living among us. The raccoons didn’t bother us that night and we slept like babies.

I rose with the sun and urged Brad to get up so we could hunt one last time for his coveted booty, shark’s teeth. As we walked the beach, the sun continued to rise and I said a little prayer to bring Brad his tooth. Two seconds later I heard him proclaim he found one! And then another, the largest he’d ever found!

What could be a more magical way to end our trip? We dismembered our campsite and bid adieu to Edisto, and sat in silence on the car ride home, windows down and soaking in the wonder.

This trip was more than pressing reset, this trip reminded us of the beauty and awe in our relationship. Just when I thought I knew Brad I got to know him a little deeper. Trips like these are important to take for yourself, your soul, and your relationships. Whether they be with a friend, a lover, or a mother. Getting out of town and spending quality time away from what you know renews your connection with others. Renewing our own cup is key, so that we can pour into others. We live this life together, because to be in isolation our world would lose meaning. We live our life out of love for others. Our loved ones make the world go round. Take your magical trip so that you may cleanse and detox yourself and be free to love and be with others.